A few weeks’ back when we were at the National Art Gallery, we went to see the Marc Chagall exhibit. It’s a series of about 30 or so paintings that were made for a book, Daphnis and Chloe, a Greek folktale about a goatherd and a shepherdess who fall in love but are kept apart by many circumstances.
It was in this exhibit that we were warned many, many times (in the first three minutes) about being too close to the art, and were threatened with expulsion. It was Little Miss Sunshine who had the hardest time remembering to KEEP BACK FROM THE ART – she was just excited and interested and kept stepping forward to point things out to ask questions – so eventually I just had her stand in front of me, and I wrapped my arm around her chest, and we shuffled like that through the entire exhibit so I could hold her back whenever the impulse hit to approach the art.
One thing about the Little Miss is that she is A TALKER. Every thought in her head comes out of her mouth – I like to say that something never really happens to her unless she can say it out loud. And in combination with her chattiness she is also a very curious child and likes to ask a LOT of questions. It’s a bottomless pit of questions in her world, and let me tell you, it is very hard getting her to settle down at bedtime as she will always find something else that she urgently needs to ask you before she can fall asleep. She’s VERBAL, is what I’m saying.
So we made our way around the exhibit fused together, which meant I was absolutely available to her for any and all questions. The paintings were arranged in order according to the story so at every one I would explain who the characters were, and what was happening now in the story (and, more often than not, why they were all naked). I kept my voice low but it was pretty much a constant stream of explaining, answering, and discussing – her asking, me doing my best to respond in a way she could understand.
We were about 3/4 of the way through when a lady about my age, who had been following along with us throughout, leaned over and said to me, “You are the Best. Mom. Ever.”
I gotta tell you, I can live on that for a VERY long time.
TurtleHead 
Awesome! A tip I learned from a mom with older kids, that might come in handy for you with your youngest, was a way to handle the bedtime queries. In this case we were talking about how her daughter would bring up upsetting, “big” things at bedtime (not conducive to good sleep) and want to talk about them. The mom would say “I do want to talk to you about that, but not at bedtime. We’ll talk about it tomorrow morning (or whenever – insert time).”
I thought it was quite simple, and pretty brilliant. It’s not at all dismissive, but it lets bedtime be calm and restful.
Oh how sweet!
My 7yo is just as chatty, and she’s also touchy feely. She hugs and kisses everyone and everything who lets her… I get it!!
It is those moments that make everything we give shine that much brighter.
Hold on to it for a moment that will perhaps need a bit of shining.
I love that women empower women with this kind of acknowledgement
Thanks for sharing
That is really and truly the best compliment. Ever.
You have now earned the right to do a mic drop.
Sweet music to your ears indeed! I can relate to the feeling. 🙂
That is the best.
Amazing! That kind of compliment means so much and the good feelings last so long. Glad someone paid it to you!
Awesome sauce. I love getting random comments like that from strangers. Well, that sounds like I always get them. Actually I have received one. And it was at the gallery too. Max and I were sitting on a bunch snuggling talking about the painting in front of us. A gentleman came over, looked at us and said “This is the most beautiful thing I’ve seen here today.” I still get teary thinking about it. And it was 2 years ago.
It’s the little things that stay. Keep remembering that.
And I’d like to see Little Miss and the jellybean together to see who wins in a verbal battle. Sounds like it would be pretty tight. 🙂
This is beautiful! I love random kindness from strangers. What a beautiful thing to lift someone up for no reason other than to be kind. I love it!
Also, can I add, this is something I try to do – tell people when I notice something I like about them, even if it’s just “I like your scarf” to the adorable little girl on the ferry wearing a cute scarf twisted around her hair. I figure if you’d go home and tell your family, “Hey I saw this great thing today” then why not tell the person so they know?
So sweet…
Nice. And good idea too! 🙂